I honestly DO NOT GET IT. Pettigrew is the definition of on-and-off when it comes to catching the ball. Yes, he can block, but we need more than that. Ebron is faster, has better hands, and will be a match-up nightmare. Fauria isn't even in discussion. He had his chances and could not get open nearly consistently enough to be seen as even a time-sharer with Pett.

Let's think about it like this:

PettigrewBlocking: ACatching: CAthleticism: C+Route Running: B-

FauriaBlocking: C+Catching: B+Athleticism: BRoute Running: D+

EbronBlocking: B-Catching: B+Athleticism: A-Route Running: B+

Strengths everywhere. Our offense will be destructive in the red zone.

You want a "D" blocker out there with our franchise QBs health at stake? You guys must have much more faith in Danny O and Moore than I do... If I'm a NFCN DC, I know where I'm attacking the Lions LOS now if he is in tight. Staff goes down, nothing else matters.

You do not have B+ catching ability with an 11-12% drop rate in college, sorry fellas. He will drop some very easy balls with his lack of concentration.

We don't need more RZ threats with a bunch of 6'5"+ plus miss matches already on the roster like CJ, Pett, and Fauria - plus you now have Tate to go along with Bell and Bush out of the backfield as threats down there. Plus, he wasn't much of a RZ threat in NC from what I've seen (3 total TDs last year).

Ive heard enough of his blocking, HE WILL NOT LINE UP AS A TRADITIONAL TIGHT END. Jimmy graham played 75% of his snaps in the slot, which is why hes filomg a grievance to get the WIDE RECIEVER TAG. He was drafted to be a pass catcher, which we needed another of.

May 10th, 2014, 12:29 am

conversion02

RIP Killer

Joined: January 26th, 2005, 9:34 pmPosts: 10493Location: Sycamore, IL

Re: Why is everyone so mad about Ebron?

Wow, how many people have actually seen his game tape? He is not a DE/DT mover, but the guy isn't a chump. He can block average against LBs, WRs, and DBs. Sure, he won't mow down Jared Allen, but very few TEs will..and those guys have stone hands. People are acting like staff should already have one foot in the grave because we got the best WR TE in the draft.

Don't get your panties in a bunch people. He won't let balls hit him in the face like Roy Williams and he won't drop as many balls as pett. The guy will do very well and be a huge asset to this offense.

The drops could also have been because of the starting QB at NC being inconsistent and then getting injured and an even more inconsistent backup replaced him. And stop looking at him as a RZ option... 62 receptions for 974 yards and 3 TDS. He's a middle of the field receiver that will help stop 3 and outs. That's where our offense was hurting us and that's what he'll help. He's a chain mover. And one safety on him, means one less that will be on CJ because CBs can't cover him.

May 10th, 2014, 4:24 am

Jafo

5th Round Pick - Traded

Joined: October 24th, 2005, 6:23 amPosts: 1036

Re: Why is everyone so mad about Ebron?

I'm upset because there were better options that filled real needs on the board. This is Mayhew trying to make Stafford 'great' to justify picking him and then extending him. Please take note that when he mentioned where they had Ebron ranked it was as the 2nd offensive player, not the 2nd best player. You don't make that kind of distinction unless yo are hiding something.

Raiola is 35. Sims is right behind him and beginning to show signs of age at LG. What does our secondary look like at the corners? The only player close to proven is injured and so far isn't responding as well as expected to treatment. How about our linebacking core?

I'm not saying you had to draft anyone right there, Mayhew could have traded back a few spots, but he didn't even waste any time. He actually took longer to put in the Van Noys pick after trading up to that spot! Which leads me to believe they had to scramble after Marquis Lee was drafted (but that is another thread).

May 10th, 2014, 5:56 am

m2karateman

RIP Killer

Joined: October 20th, 2004, 4:16 pmPosts: 10136Location: Where ever I'm at now

Re: Why is everyone so mad about Ebron?

njroar wrote:

The drops could also have been because of the starting QB at NC being inconsistent and then getting injured and an even more inconsistent backup replaced him. And stop looking at him as a RZ option... 62 receptions for 974 yards and 3 TDS. He's a middle of the field receiver that will help stop 3 and outs. That's where our offense was hurting us and that's what he'll help. He's a chain mover. And one safety on him, means one less that will be on CJ because CBs can't cover him.

A football coming at you is a football coming at you. I like Ebron as a football player, and I think he can have a very good NFL career. But it still comes down to the fact that he drops passes that should be caught, regardless of who throws them. He's not a strong blocker, at all. Taking him and lining him up on the same side of the field as Calvin won't take coverage off CJ. Sorry, but that's just how it is going to be. Unless Ebron becomes the next Antonio Gates, Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham, he won't get any special attention.

I agree with most here that the Lions SHOULD have traded down. I'm sure there were teams looking to trade up to take either Ebron or a number of other players. Nobody is going to convince me there was no interest in the pick. Millen said the same thing about the Mike Williams pick, despite the fact that the selection was in for them lightning fast. Same thing here. That Ebron pick was made very, very quickly.

_________________I will not put on blinders when it comes to our QBs performances.

I'm upset because there were better options that filled real needs on the board. This is Mayhew trying to make Stafford 'great' to justify picking him and then extending him. Please take note that when he mentioned where they had Ebron ranked it was as the 2nd offensive player, not the 2nd best player. You don't make that kind of distinction unless yo are hiding something.

Raiola is 35. Sims is right behind him and beginning to show signs of age at LG. What does our secondary look like at the corners? The only player close to proven is injured and so far isn't responding as well as expected to treatment. How about our linebacking core?

I'm not saying you had to draft anyone right there, Mayhew could have traded back a few spots, but he didn't even waste any time. He actually took longer to put in the Van Noys pick after trading up to that spot! Which leads me to believe they had to scramble after Marquis Lee was drafted (but that is another thread).

Mayhew doesn't draft to fill need. How many times does the poor guy and the rest of the FO have to say that before people listen. A guy filling a need only adds to his value it isn't a large factor. Drafting Oline depth in the first round is just irresponsible when your not already a top team. The DBs available were not a value pick at 10 and other than Pryor none of them are even likely to play any significant time in their first year on the Lions. No LBs fit the spot either Mosley is an inside guy and Shazier isn't a top 10 LB and would have to play WSLB in a 4-3.

There was no trades available, they had the 9 picks to gauge interest in a trade down and all you have to do is watch Tenn on the next pick wait to the very last second to make their pick to see no one was trading up.

The drops could also have been because of the starting QB at NC being inconsistent and then getting injured and an even more inconsistent backup replaced him. And stop looking at him as a RZ option... 62 receptions for 974 yards and 3 TDS. He's a middle of the field receiver that will help stop 3 and outs. That's where our offense was hurting us and that's what he'll help. He's a chain mover. And one safety on him, means one less that will be on CJ because CBs can't cover him.

A football coming at you is a football coming at you. I like Ebron as a football player, and I think he can have a very good NFL career. But it still comes down to the fact that he drops passes that should be caught, regardless of who throws them. He's not a strong blocker, at all. Taking him and lining him up on the same side of the field as Calvin won't take coverage off CJ. Sorry, but that's just how it is going to be. Unless Ebron becomes the next Antonio Gates, Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham, he won't get any special attention.

I agree with most here that the Lions SHOULD have traded down. I'm sure there were teams looking to trade up to take either Ebron or a number of other players. Nobody is going to convince me there was no interest in the pick. Millen said the same thing about the Mike Williams pick, despite the fact that the selection was in for them lightning fast. Same thing here. That Ebron pick was made very, very quickly.

Jimmy Graham dropped 15% of his catchable passes last season. A lot of players see increased drop rates with heavy usage. Ebron said he only dropped 4 passes last season and his high drop rate really comes from his second season. His blocking also improved last season and he's not any worse at it than any other pass catching TE, he's an average level blocker and probably wont have to do much more than chip guys if he is placed inline. Ebron doesn't need to always pull attention away from CJ the point of getting him is when attention is focused on CJ Ebron will be alone on a LB and he should win the match up most of the time.

Whatever interest may have been out there must have been absolutely terrible because TEN burned their whole clock and still didn't trade down.

_________________The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

May 10th, 2014, 8:48 am

njroar

Player of the Year - Offense

Joined: September 25th, 2007, 3:20 amPosts: 2908

Re: Why is everyone so mad about Ebron?

m2karateman wrote:

njroar wrote:

The drops could also have been because of the starting QB at NC being inconsistent and then getting injured and an even more inconsistent backup replaced him. And stop looking at him as a RZ option... 62 receptions for 974 yards and 3 TDS. He's a middle of the field receiver that will help stop 3 and outs. That's where our offense was hurting us and that's what he'll help. He's a chain mover. And one safety on him, means one less that will be on CJ because CBs can't cover him.

A football coming at you is a football coming at you. I like Ebron as a football player, and I think he can have a very good NFL career. But it still comes down to the fact that he drops passes that should be caught, regardless of who throws them. He's not a strong blocker, at all. Taking him and lining him up on the same side of the field as Calvin won't take coverage off CJ. Sorry, but that's just how it is going to be. Unless Ebron becomes the next Antonio Gates, Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham, he won't get any special attention.

I agree with most here that the Lions SHOULD have traded down. I'm sure there were teams looking to trade up to take either Ebron or a number of other players. Nobody is going to convince me there was no interest in the pick. Millen said the same thing about the Mike Williams pick, despite the fact that the selection was in for them lightning fast. Same thing here. That Ebron pick was made very, very quickly.

As someone that played reciever/safety I agree with you that if the ball touches your hands, you should be able to catch it. BUT, just look back at some of the throws Stafford made last year that were poorly placed that weren't catchable by our receivers, yet touched their hands. CJ's drops were up last season, as were all of our receivers. A lot of that as on Staff, not them. Ebron does need to catch more, but I do believe a lot of that was the qb situation at NC.

If teams don't drop coverage off CJ (most won't) then you have a CB on Ebron or a LB on Bush/Bell which is exactly the mismatch we want every down. That's where Ebron earning 974 yards in between the 20's makes this a even better pick.

As for a trade down, Cleveland trading up one spot for a 5th killed any value or any discussions with other teams about trades once it happened. And if the Lions had Watkins #1, and Ebron #2 then they got who they were targeting.

May 10th, 2014, 11:29 am

Leo

5th Round Pick - Traded

Joined: January 11th, 2005, 11:35 pmPosts: 1085

Re: Why is everyone so mad about Ebron?

You know a lot of times its Stafford's job is to throw the ball the a certain place on the field and it's the receiver's job to get there.

For all you know the lions have a bunch lousy route runners (Durham was cut for being a lousy route runner by the Seahawks and the weakest part of CJ game hs always been his route running) who constantly failed to hit there spots when the ball was thrown there.

More than likely it's combination of the two since no qb is 100% accurate and neither is any receiver. This is fixed with practice and having the receiver and qb on the same page. Last season nobody looked like there were on the same page the second half of the season. But that is what you get when are pulling guys off the waiver wire and guys are not practicing.

_________________The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

May 10th, 2014, 12:46 pm

thelomasbrowns

Pro Bowl Player

Joined: August 24th, 2010, 9:54 pmPosts: 2539

Re: Why is everyone so mad about Ebron?

Chicago radio guys I heard today loved Ebron and are definitely concerned that he's now on our team.

_________________Jim Caldwell, on whether Jim Harbaugh is stealing his thunder: "Me? I don't have any thunder."

May 10th, 2014, 5:01 pm

The Legend

Off. Coordinator – Joe Lombardi

Joined: February 11th, 2005, 3:01 pmPosts: 4080Location: WSU

Re: Why is everyone so mad about Ebron?

conversion02 wrote:

Wow, how many people have actually seen his game tape? He is not a DE/DT mover, but the guy isn't a chump. He can block average against LBs, WRs, and DBs. Sure, he won't mow down Jared Allen, but very few TEs will..and those guys have stone hands. People are acting like staff should already have one foot in the grave because we got the best WR TE in the draft.

Don't get your panties in a bunch people. He won't let balls hit him in the face like Roy Williams and he won't drop as many balls as pett. The guy will do very well and be a huge asset to this offense.

i think he ll be fine when lined up as a WR blocking corners, and he ll be fine in crack back situations on LBs/Ends. I dont think they ll ever have him pass blocking for Stafford (to address pablo's overreaction). He ll have to do some work in the box in run game but that ll be his biggest weakness and they ll game plan around it.